The St. John’s Men’s Basketball team huddle. Photo by: Stacy Podelski/1495 Sports
The St. John’s Men’s Basketball team enters into the 109th season in its storied history, along with the 2016-17 season with the ninth-most victories in the NCAA Division 1 history. The Red Storm and Bethune-Cookman will meet for just the second time in thie history of the two programs on friday night. The first contest came during the 2008-2009 campaign.
St. John’s has won its last 12 home openers dating back to 2003-04-all at Carnesecca Arena. Heading into the 56th season at playing at Carnesecca, the red storm hold a 457-91 (.834) in 548 games on its on-campus home.
The Red Storm returns five players who saw action in more than 20 games last season, including Federico Mussini and Amar Alibegovic who each played in 32 contest.
Last Season Mussini finished second on the team in scoring with 10.7 ppg, and led the conference in free-throw percentage. Alibegovic scored double-figures six times, including a career-high 18 points on 7-of-15 shooting against Villanova on Feb. 13.
Another returning player to watch for will be Malik Ellison, who made an appearance in all 18 Contest in BIG EAST play during the 2015-16 season. Ellison averaged 7.7 points and 2.7 assist-per-game, including a season-high 17-point performance against Creighton on New Year’s Eve.
Preseason BIG EAST Freshman of the Year Shamorie Ponds will join Junior Guard/Forward Bashir Ahmed and Richard Freudenberg in making an immediate impact for the Red Storm this season.
St. John’s and Bethune- Cookman will air on the FS1 Network, with the start time set for 9:00 p.m.
Note:
Fans attending the game tomorrow will be in store for a treat as the University has two new LED video displays inside Carnesecca Arena. The historic arena now features the third-largest video displays in a college basketball venue.
1495 Sports is proud to bring the following videos from a Press Conference held at Carnesecca Arena:
Featuring:
Head Coach Chris Mullin
Guard Malik Ellison and Guard/ Forward Bashir Ahmed
For more information on the St. John’s Men’s Basketball team and for tickets to the upcoming games, fans are encouraged to click on the link seen here: